Good story, although not a whole lot of action for the length of the book. A lot of it (like much of Melville's works) are explanatory - of customs, etc.

The reader is very good. Sound quality is A-1 superb; hard to believe this was recorded in 2005! There is no "end of chapter" wording at the end of each chapter. After so many recordings with this there, it feels like each chapter ends without warning. :)

No complaints about this reading. Not Melville's most interesting book, but still well worth while.

Great book and well spoken here. It's a wry narration, and the reader here captures the nuances.

Extremely well read...except for the very annoying voice Mr Scherrer used for Toby.

Jac, the chapters do not, in fact, fade out at the end. What is happening is that some listening devices/programs truncate files slightly (Realplayer in particular).

It is now Librivox policy to add 5-10 seconds of silence at the end of each file (depending on its length) to counteract this problem. This particular recording was made in early 2006, before we knew about the problem. I will download the files and add the extra silence as soon as I have time. :)

Some previous reviewer called this reading to be close to professional quality. While the reader does a good job, his flat presentation, with little to no vocal inflections, sucks life out of a great writing!

Even more annoying, EVERY chapter fades at the end, even though events are still occurring and clearly the reading is not over. It's frustrating to be following a story and have it quickly fade, only to be replaced by what sounds like a computer-generated voice saying, "This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain," and then the following chapter number is read, and the reading resumes, leaving me to wonder how the previous chapter ended.

I'm going to the library and check out this book. That way, as the end of a chapter nears and I hear the volume being turned down, I can finish the action. It's very, very annoying and prevents me from coming close to giving this five stars. Perhaps I'm spoiled from listening to professionally-read audio books (which I listen to while working out on my stationary bicycle in my study), but there is no reason every chapter in this book is cut short!

I stumbled on this gem one winter night when it was very foggy here in California's Central Valley and was entranced. The story is captivating and the reading superb. Don't overlook this Melville--it is very enjoyable and you'll feel like you are right there going through all the trials and tribulations that the main characters. Hop on board and get ready for an adventure.

Excellent theatrical reading. Thoroughly recommend it. (The BookWorm, Manchester, UK)

Mr. Scherer does an excellent job of reading this text. Anyone who has read Melville knows how wordy it can get at times. Mr. Scherer is always very clear and articulate, and his pronunciation is good as well. This recording comes very close to being professional quality. The only possible down side is that Mr. Scherer does not always read with emotion, but that's not a bad thing when compared to other recordings that take the emotional interpretation too far. Overall an excellent recording, and I hope that Mr. Scherer will favor us with more wonderful readings of Melville texts.